Glass-material-handling apparatus.



J. A. BECHTEL. GLASS MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 9, 191a. ,1 ,55-8, Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

3 SHBBTS'SHEET 1.

INVENTOR W 4. @M

Mr i g Mrys WITNESSES W4 2i I J. A'. BEUHTBLI GLASS MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS;

APPLICATION FILED JUL! 8, 191 3.

Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

3 SHEETS-$311131 2.

WITNESSES J. A. 1330111351.. GLASS MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS.

. APPLICATION FILED JULY 8, 1913. 1, 1 1 1 55a Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

WITNES$ES To all z'vho m itinayconcem UNITED STATES PATENT ion-Eton.

' 3031i BnortrEL, or TARENTUM, PENNSYLVA IA, Assrsivon TO ITTsBURGH PLATE GLAss'ooMrAnY, A CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

GLAsS-MATERIAL-HANDLING APPA ATUS.

-Application filed J'u1y'8, 1913. 'Serial No. 777,859.

Be it known that 1, JOHN A. BnonTE-L, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Ta- 4 rentunnin the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Glass-Material- 'HandlingApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

-T-he invention relates to apparatus for supplying the -materials employed in the manufactureofplate glass to the pots of a melting furnace. The invention has for its primary objects the following: (1) the prou .vision of anappara'tu's which can be oper- 15 ated by a minimum number of workmen, and without exposure to excessive heat; (2)

the provision of an apparatus whereby the amountof'batch supplied to the pots may be' accurately measured. and (3) the provision of an apparatus which can be manipulated without loss of time and which leaves the useofthe overhead crane. One embodiaccompanying drawings wherein ment' of the invention is illustrated in the Fig. 1. is a. diagrammatic plan view with the furnaces in section, Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the material handling apparatus,

with the furnace in cross section, and Fig. 3

is av front elevation of the furnace, showing the filling'hoppers in operative position.

' -The apparatus of the present application constitutes a modification and improvement over that hown in my copendingapplica tion serial No. 7 77 ,860 and entitled Process of handling materials for. glass making. The process set forth in the said copending application may be carried out by the apparatus shown in the present applicat on, and the apparatus disclosed in said copending application constitutes a modification of the broad invention as set forth and claimed in the present application. The process as carried out by the apparatus of the present application and claimed in my copending application No. 777,858), has all the advantages set forth for'the process of the copending application, and the apparatus ofthis application has certain advantages over that disclosed in the said copending case. One of the primary advantages of the present apparatusas compared wlth that of the other application resldes in the fact that the hoppers insteadv of being supported by the crane during thefilling operation, are supported upon the. framework ofthe furnace, after having beenjmov'ed to such position by Patented'Sept. 22, 1914..

the crane. This leaves thecrane free for other work, and by having a plurality of hoppes always inposition no time need be lost while one hopper is being moved into operative position, or another hopper after discharge ismoved to inoperative position. Another'advantage incident to this apparatus as compared to the apparatusof the copending application results from the fact that the space above the hoppers is left free for the action of thepverhadcrane. so that the crane may move-along overthe furnace, carrylng pots to and from pouring position,

Without lnterference with the hoppers or' with the charging operation carried, on connection with such hoppers.

Briefly stated, the apparatus comprises in connection with the glass: melting furnacea series of portable gravity discharge recepdoors of the furnace, and means whereby the portable hoppers may be supported in the positions to which they are carried by. the crane. The hoppersare preferably pro-.

rails or upon the floor of the furnace, it she; 90

ing desirable in some cases to utilize atrack tacles or. hoppers,.a crane for mow-ingthese" hoppers to a posltionabove the charging for bringing thehoppers. from the batch house to a point in proximity to the fur- The hoppers discharge by. gravitynace. into a ladle supported fonmovementin and out of the furnace, the ladleinone ppsition beingbeneath the dischargeopening of the hopper, and in another position being over the top of one of the pots-t0 be filled.-

Referring first to the generaharrangementas shown in Fig. 1: A is. the mixer inwhich the batch is mixed; B i's,ajtrack leading from the mixer to a point ad acent the';fur- I naces; C C are glass melti-ng furnaces of the usual type containingaplurality of pots;

D; E E E are gravity discharge hoppers for conveying the batch from. themixer A to the furnaces; F' is an overhead crane-for handling thehoppers E and G is a truck carry- 2 the crane, and with the wheels 11.

the ladle for transferring the material the hoppers E to the lines.

By reference to both Figs. 1 and 2 it will be noted that the crane F is'mounted for movement along a crane girder 1, and that this crane girder'l is in turn mounted for movement along the rails 2-2 (Fig. 1) so that it can be moved to any desired position with respect to the furnaces.

The furnaces C are constructed in the usual manner, having the movable front walls 3 to permit of the removal of the ots D from the furnace, the movable walls 3 beingprovided with charging doors 4. The.

furnace structure also includes the usual stays- 5 and 6, the stays 5 being provided along the frontwith the rails 7 and 8 upon 'which .the hoppers E p are detachably mounted.

. The hoppers E are preferably of the form indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, and are provided with'the bails 9 for engaging the hook 10T 12f e wheels of thehoppers run upon the track B (Fig. 1) until a point is reached adjacent to the furnaces, when they are run 03 the track and wheeled to convenient positions with respect to the front of the furnaces C C. The

hoppers are then lifted to the positions indicated in Figs. 2 and 3' and hung upon the rails 7, with the lower portion of the hoppers resting against the rails 8. r The hoppers are secured to the rails 7 by means of the hooks 12 soformed that the hopper is disengaged by lifting it and moving it laterally.- Each of the hoppers is provided-with an outlet valve 13 for governing the gravit discharge, and the. hoppers are pre erably mounted directly over the charging doors 4 as indicated'in Fig. 3, so that the charging ladle to be later described need'be moved I only a short distance in transferring the batch from the hopper to the pots in the furnace. The truck G is'provided with an upright post 14 upon the upper end of whichis mounted the horizontally swinging arm 15. The free end of the arm 15 carries the haddle 16 of the ladle, such handle being mounted upon the end of the arm 15 for swinging horizontal movement. The .handle is also mounted in the bracket 17 so, as to rotate about its'axis to permit the dumping of the ladle after itis positioned above the pots D. The ladle 18 which is carried at the forward end of the handle 16 is of relatively small capacity as compared to. the capacity of the pots D, the relative-capacity being such that about ten charges of. the ladle are required in order to give the pot D itsfirst fill. The various pots in the furnace nequire' different quantities of batch, depending upon their location, and the ladle 18 having-a relatively small capa city constitutes anaccurate measpots in the fair mamas uring device for supplyin-'- po precisely the quantity of batch re The handle 16 of the ladle is preferably: pivoted in the bracket 1'5 in such manner that the ladle cannot move downward below the position indicated in Fig. 2. This a, rangementrelieves the operator from the labor of. supporting the ladle, and also avoids the danger of-strihng the" pot with the ladle, such as might occur if the ladle could swing downward after its insertion into the furnace. sisindicated in Fig. 1,

the truck is refer-ably located with the post 14 to one si e of the centerlineofthe char ing door, in which position the ladle is easier of manipulation than if the post 14 were in alinement-With the centerline of the door.

mixer. A and moved along the track B to a point adjacent the furnaces C, after which they are movedofi the track and wheeled to convenient positions adjacent the fronts of the furnacesC. They are then lifted bythe crane F and put in position upon the. rails 7 as indicated in Figs. land .2, a hopper being supported above each of the charging doors 4. Thehoppers each refer-1 Y ably contain sufficient batch for the rst" fillof two of the pots, andthe potsare.-prefer-- ably ;so arranged that two" may be filled through each of the charging door-s; The advantages incident to the-apparatus will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. While the contents of one of the hoppers is being supplied to. the furnace, another hoppercan be positioned by the crane, so that the hoppers are-always. filiedand ready for use, and no loss ofii'me occurs, the crane being free to"perform its.- work of.- positioning the hoppers, by reasonof the fact that the hopperswhen once pore f' sitioned are su portedindependently of the'f crane, thus ditlhring fromthe apparatus of my copending application. heretofore referred to wherein the hoppersare ported by the", crane from the time they lifted until they are discharged and returned to the floor. The supporting of the hoppers upon the frameworkof the furnace instead o by the crane, is also of advantage in that 115 it leaves the head room above thefurnace and the hoppers free, so that the cra'necan be moved back and forth for the performof the pots to andfrorn the furnace: in the casting operationsl'after the frontsfi have been removed. Practically no dust is raised by the operation, and the work is made very easy for the operators. as they can work at a point far removed from the front of the furnace, thus relieving them'from the excessive heat conditions incident to the ordi-- nary procedure involved in charging a glass 'fu1'nace.;'-The operation of filling the. pots In operation the hoppersjare filled at the I ance of other functions such as the carrying I can be carried on withexactness, since the i ladle constitutes a measuring device. The supplying of the batch to the pots in relatively small quantities facilitates the melting operation,

top of it. The batch in the pot thus heated uniformly throughout to' a high degree by the time the pot is filled. Qther advantages incident to the use of the apparatus are set forth in my copending 'appl'ication and will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. What I claim is: 1. In combination with a glass furnace having a plurality of charging openings through sides, portable gravity discharge the said openings, aria casried' by the 4 ladle'c'arricd by the said arm, the said ladle hoppers rcmo'vab y supported upon fixed 3' supporting means above the said openings,

el ng means for moving the hoppers to and the said supporting means, a truck movable longitudinally of the furnace past a horizontally swinging truck, and a pot filling being movable upon the said arm from receiving positions beneath the hoppers to dis- 7 charging positions in the furnace.

' 2. In combination with a glass furnace i having a charging opening through its side, fixed supporting means above the charging before another unit of batch opening, a portable gravity-discharge hoppcr removably supportedj1upon'said fixed supporting means above the discharge open 111g, elevating means for to and. from such supporting means, and a pot filling ladle mounted for movement from areceiving position beneath the gravity discharge of the hopper to a discharging position in the. furnace. 3. In combination with a glass furnace having charging openings through its side and provided with melting pots, fixed supporting means above the opening, wheeled gravity discharge hoppers removably supported upon the said fixed supporting means, elevating means for moving the hoppers to and from the fixed supporting means, and a portable charging device movable longitudinally of the furnace and provided with a ladle mounted for reciprocation from receiving positions beneath the hoppers to discharging positions over the pots of the furnace.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of the two subscribed witnesses.

JOHN A. BECHTEL.

Witnesses moving the hopper 

